1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to printers, and in particular to a photographic printer with a traversing lens turret and a printing method.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Photographic printers generally include a light source, a film carrier for positioning the developed film for illumination by the light source, a lens or lenses for focusing the film image illuminated by the light source and a print paper support which receives the focused illumination from the lens. The photographic image is focused and the size of the print is determined by adjusting the positions of the aforementioned components relative to each other.
In "on axis" printing, individual prints are made consecutively from the photographic images. Only a single lens is required for such printing, but it can also be accomplished with a plurality of individual lenses placed at spaced locations on a lens turret or lens array. On axis printers often include multiple lenses for making prints of different sizes. For example, the Pilkington U.S. Pat. No. 1,186,034 discloses an on axis printing apparatus.
Multiple photographic prints can be made simultaneously with an "off axis" or "cluster" printing process wherein a cluster of lenses is exposed to the image for making multiple identical prints thereof. For example, the Johnson U.S. Pat. No. 3,169,441 discloses a lens turret with a lens cluster comprising four individual lenses positioned in a square pattern for simultaneously making four separate prints from the same negative. A single lens is also mounted on the turret of the Johnson apparatus. By rotating the turret, either the single lens or the lens cluster can be brought into the optical axis or light path for making a single print or multiple prints respectively from a single film exposure.
However, a disadvantage with the type of off-axis printing system shown in the Johnson patent is that the multiple lens assemblies tend to be relatively expensive. Furthermore, the variety of different print sizes and configurations that can be printed as a package or batch is somewhat limited by the configuration of the multiple lenses, e.g. the four lenses positioned in a square pattern as shown in the Johnson patent. Although lens arrays and turrets can be provided with virtually endless combinations of lenses, the variety of photographic print patterns made possible thereby is accompanied by a greater cost for the multiple lenses. Furthermore, in a lens array or turret with a large number of single and multiple lens assemblies, some of them can be expected to receive only occasional use, whereby the entire lens array or turret is somewhat underutilized.
Student portraits comprise an example of photographic work that typically involves printing a package of multiple images from a single photograph. At many educational institutions, the students are individually photographed annually. The resulting photographs are often printed in yearbooks and the like, but prints thereof are generally made available for purchase. Typically, the photographer offers one or more packages comprising collections of different size prints of the student's portrait. The selection can be made from photographer's proofs, or a complete package of multiple prints may be provided to the student for purchasing all or part of the collection.
A typical collection of school portraits includes one or more prints large enough for framing; a number of small, wallet-size prints and some medium-size prints. The portrait photographers and commercial package printers who provide these services naturally plan the packages and the particular combinations of different-size portrait prints therein to appeal to the greatest possible number of customers. However, some of the off-axis printers with relatively few multiple lens assemblies are not well adapted for producing a wide variety of different-size print combinations. Thus, the commercial printer with such equipment may find it too costly to purchase the additional multiple lens assemblies necessary to vary his production.
On the other hand, much of the existing on-axis printing equipment is not well suited for package printing since it cannot make multiple print groupings which efficiently utilize the area of the print paper. Rather, many on-axis printing systems make prints which are centered along the travel path of the print paper as it advances.
Heretofore there has not been available a photographic printer or method of printing with the advantages and features of the present invention.